The 46th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 raised in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 for service in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. It fought mostly in Virginia and the Carolinas.

46th Infantry Regiment (also called 1st or 2nd Regiment, Wise Legion) was organized in August, 1861.

It was soon ordered to North Carolina and placed in a brigade commanded by former governor Henry A. Wise

Henry A. Wise

Henry Alexander Wise was an American politician and governor of Virginia, as well as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

. Here part of the unit was captured in the fight at Roanoke Island. After being exchanged it was assembled in Virginia, saw action in the Seven Days' Battles, then joined the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The regiment participated in the siege against Charleston and during the spring of 1864 returned to Virginia. It endured the hardships of the Petersburg trenches north of the James River and ended the war at Appomattox.

This unit contained 401 effectives during the Seven Days' Battles and surrendered 15 officers and 116 men on April 9, 1865.

The field officers were Colonels J. Lucius Davis, Richard T.W. Duke, Randolph Harrison, and John H. Richardson; Lieutenant Colonel Peyton Wise; and Majors Hugh W. Fry, Jr. and James C. Hill.